Back to real life…

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Back to work, Route 66

Tomorrow it is time to go back to work. Feels totally unreal!! After eight weeks of adventure I think it would be really good to get some true vacation. Just relaxing, stroll around the house, doing nothing at all.

All the impressions from the trip is starting to feel distant so it I guess it was a good idea to blog during the adventure so I have the possibility to return there whenever I want to! 🙂

Route 66 The Andersson Style
Thought that I might put together a small list of what was good/what was not that good as a reminder for ourselves in case we should get the crazy idea to do something similar in the future …or to help you other guys if you plan a trip like ours.

What was not so good

• The car was too old
• The car was crappy
• The car leaked which made ALL our luggage wet
• It was impossible to talk in the car. Well, you could talk but nobody would ever hear you.
• The air condition did not work 😦
• You had to slam the doors to be able to close them. Normally they wouldn’t close until the fourth try.
• The car leaked break oil
• The car only had seven working cylinders
• The weather was way too hot for a Swede
• The total lack of sidewalks in US. You risk your life when walking, and as a Swede, you actually do WANT to WALK!!
• My credit card was copied or skimmed or something after just 2-3 weeks = confiscated by the bank so I could not use it at all. So, be careful when using your cards!!

What was good

• The country, loved travelling in US, beautiful
• The roads are so great, Americans really know their road building stuff
• Cheap gas (for a Swede) 😉
• The oil was really cheap
• The nachos, OMG, so good
• The tires on the car were new
• The landscape was different from state to state, beautiful
• People actually talk to you in the elevator, so very nice
• The cheese cake factory (we have nothing like that in Sweden)
• River rafting in Grand Canyon. If you get the chance, just DO IT!!
• Loved the sandy beaches, both on the west coast and on the east coast
• The ocean, clear and warm water, lovely
• No bedbugs (even though we stayed at over 20? different hotels)
• The seats in the car were very comfortable
• Sooo great shopping (makeup, jeans, shoes etc)
• Chicago, what a great city. Loved downtown, the lake, the weather, the restaurants, the people, the flower and plant decorations around the city, the impressive buildings.

But the most important thing was that we got:

We got to spend valuble family time together and we got so many good memories that will last a lifetime 🙂

New haircut…

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Frisyr, Hår, Klippning, Linneasalongen

Burriga barret borta

Finally we’re home…

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Home

As we say in Sweden:

Being away is great, but being at home is the BEST!!!

 

Lazy day and bye bye dinner…

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Beach, Game of Thrones, Miami Beach, The Pier

Lazy morning with breakfast in front of the TV and two episopdes of Game of Thrones.

Bye bye dinner together with J & F

Some sushi before dinner

Beautiful coffee glass

The gang at The Pier

At around 1 o’clock, me, Jossan and Feliks went to the beach. I, for my last swim, buhu, and J & F for their first. Did some tanning, swimming and frisbeeing. Nice!

Strolled back home, showered and dressed and then we went back to The Pier again (at the beach) to have the Bye bye dinner for Jossan and Feliks. We had sushi as a starter. I do not like sushi but I am trying to like it but sushi is just tempting to my eyes and not my mouth. 😦 Me and Feliks had crab for entrée, OMG, so much food and it was so very good. Loved it! The white wine was great as well.

Looked at another Game of thrones episope in the evening. So exciting!

Last shopping…again…

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Bags, Macys

Went to Macys and bought the bags. After buying a card where I donated 5 dollars to premature children, I got my 25% discount, just perfect. Jörgen then dragged me to Abercrombie & Fitch where he did some serious shopping! 🙂 Even the perfume!!!

Bags and celebration…

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Bags, Miami, Michael Kors

A must have!

Found a place to stay drink

Monsieur and I went to the Aventura mall today to do some last day shopping. Bought a Brighton bracelet and also earrings. Finally. I have been looking at things at Brighton at least three times in three different cities. 🙂 Bought deodorant as well, at Macys. Talked to the staff there and they told me there would be a 25% discount on EVERYTHING in the store tomorrow (except parfume and watches). Great, then we have to go back tomorrow to buy the bags. A lot of money to save there!

Prosecco time
Celebrated, with Prosecco, the fact that Jossan and Feliks now, at last, have found a place to stay. It has not been easy, it is much easier to find an apartment in Australia, and it is very expensive in Miami, as well. But now it is all set, jihaaaaaaa!!!! SKÅL!!:-)

Wonderful Miami Beach…

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Miami, Miami Beach, UM, University of Miami

We live the lazy, laidback kind of super vacation without stress life here now in Miami. We read a lot, I go to the pool 2 hours per day to work on my tan, Jörgen does some Garage work of course and makes some calls about the upcoming car transportation, we look at Game of Thrones each night, so very exciting and so many mean people. I get very upset and angry every night! It is a bit too much blood to me and too much close-ups on the really nasty and bloody stuff. Completely unnecessary, I think. I do not want to see close-ups when they chop off parts of humans and animals, jääääk.

A place in the sun

Something to remember when the winter comes

Even Jörgen loves the water temperature

Wonderful Miami Beach
Today Jossan and Feliks went to school for the first time, orientation week has started. Me and Jörgen strolled down to the beach at around five. We took a drink down at the Newport Pier and then we just walked some 500 meters along the beach. Feets in the sand, waves splashing up over your feet, birds and a nice breeze. The water must have been 30 degrees C, so even Jörgen could take a dip here!!! We laid down for half an hour, just talking, looking up into the sky, soooo very nice. Like beach meditation!

University of Miami
We went back to our recidence, did some shopping in the small, but filled inhouse shop that is open 24/7 and then headed back to the apartment. J&F still wasn’t home. They came back at around 21.00, so it has been really a long first day for them at school. They are so very happy about Campus, UM is a huge university and they seem to like it very much. They got a teacher taking care of them and she is so much fun, according to them. That’s great, much better than having some stiff, old, angry teacher. Means a lot to get someone you get along with. 🙂

Hard to find an short term rental apartment in Miami
They are beginning to sound desperate about the “renting a room” part. It has been so very easy to rent an apartment in Australia for them. Here it is so very hard to rent. And it is expensive. The landlords mostly do not want short term rentals, it is hard to get answers from them, hard to get to see pictures of the apartments. They met one other Swedish girl at the university who has the exact same problem. Hope things work out for them soon.

And YES, ended the evening with one more episode og Game of Thrones…of course!! 🙂

Another lazy Miami day…

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Bad WIFI, Game of Thrones, Miami

Had the most wonderful breakfast. Jörgen made a super fruitsalad (three kind of melons, pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, björnbär but he forgot the banana, hehehe), and we had coffee, milk, juice, water, bread, cheese, butter, salami, yoghurt, cottage cheese, honey, greek yoghurt, bell peppers and probably some more stuff that I have missed. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

At the pool
Spent 1,5 hours at the pool. I must have gone into the pool at least 10 times during that 1,5 hours. It is so HOT here. My goal, which I will not reach, is to have the same skin color as Gerd at my work has after a vacation, which is soooo increadably brown. I can never be that brown! 😦 I don’t have the skin and I don’t have the patience.

My surf spot (the only working surf spot) in the apartment 🙂

Delicious homemade lunch
We made spagetti/rise and meat sause for lunch, a late lunch. It was so very good. I realise I have been longing for home cooked food. By the way, the Internet is really lousy in this apartment. There is only one spot where it actually works and that is in this kitchen corner. 😦

Game of Thrones
In the evening we…tada….had in house movie time. Strange feeling, we haven’t looked at the TV at all this vacation. Jörgen has read the first Game of Thrones book this vacation (he got all the books from Jossan last Christmas) so now we looked at the first two episodes from season one. OMG, it was nerv tickeling, so very good and so exciting. Looking forward to two more episodes tomorrow night!! 🙂

In Miami…

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Miami

The IntraCoastal Yacht Club on Sunny Isles Beach

Some beautiful Miami flowers

My place in the Miami sun

Miami = palms, palms, palms

Had the most wonderful breakfast. Jörgen made a super fruitsalad (three kind of melons, pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, björnbär but he forgot the banana, hehehe), and we had coffee, milk, juice, water, bread, cheese, butter, salami, yoghurt, cottage cheese, honey, greek yoghurt, bell peppers and probably some more stuff that I have missed. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

At the pool
Jörgen and I took a walk around thea area to check out the facilities. There is a great fitness center, a small shop that has all you will ever need during your stay here and then THE POOL. I spent 1,5 hours at the pool. I must have gone into the pool at least 10 times during that 1,5 hours. It is so HOT here. My goal, which I will not reach, is to have the same skin color as Gerd at my work has after a vacation, which is soooo increadably brown. I can never be that brown! 😦 I don’t have the skin and I don’t have the patience.

Delicious homemade lunch
We I came back from my lazy pool hours, we made spagetti/rise and meat sause for lunch, a late lunch. It was so very good. I realise I have been longing for home cooked food.

Game of Thrones
In the evening we…tada….had in house movie time. Strange feeling, we haven’t looked at the TV at all this vacation. Jörgen has read the first Game of Thrones book this vacation (he got all the books from Jossan last Christmas) so now we looked at the first two episodes from season one. OMG, it was nerv tickeling, so very good and so exciting. Looking forward to two more episodes tomorrow night!! 🙂

From Orlando towards the end destination, Miami…

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Apartment, Miami, Orlando

Had a good sleeps morning and had the favorite breakfast. When I come home I will start making the same kind of yoghurt breakfasts as they have here. Apples cocked in cinnamon, strawberry cream (kräm) and then plain yoghurt with cottage cheese, mmmmmm, so very good. Maybe I will throw in some banana slices, as well.

Drove with the cab down today. It was a 3,5h trip from Orlando to Miami AND it was 36 degrees Celsius. A bit too hot for me. Feliks said, with disappointment in his voice:

– Now you are driving with the top down, now that I’m not in the car!

Poor Feliks! But there is a simple explanation to that. When travelling highways as we do all the time, in around 65-70 miles/hour, it is Ok to sit in the front seat with the top down. In the back seat it feels like being in the middle of a hurricane the whole time. So, not an option!

The view from our balcony in Miami

On the 21st floor :-O

Living the apartment life
Came to Miami around 16.00. The host of the apartment had told us we would get the keys at the reception, which we did. One parking space is included, the other car had to be in valet parking ($52 for the whole eight nights which was the valey price PER NIGHT in downtown Chicago). The apartment was on the 21st floor, out of 25, so the view is rather grandiose! And the apartment was perfect!! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, good sized kitchen with washing mashin, dryer, dish washer and a micro wave owen. A livingroom with two large sofas and then tables and chairs for six. Nice to have some space compared to living in hotel room of maybe 15-20m2. So very perfect!! The only strange thing was the smell. It smelled as though they had sprayed something in the room. At first we thought it smelled macaronies but then, after a while, it was just a strange smell. Well, if they had been spraying for some insects or something, the spraying had succeeded, cause the apartment is completely bug free. The only thing we have seen is five small ants and that is not a problem for us! We have ants back home as well. 🙂

Whole Food Market, our favorite store
After settling in, we went to the Whole Food Market to shop. Oh, what a store. It is just great for us Celiaki people. They even had gluten free banana cake!!!! Jihhhaaa, I have never had banana cake since I have been gluten intolerant all this time when the banana cakes showed up in my life. But now I get to eat it! It was delicious!!!!!! We bought a lot of other stuff as well, all we need for breakfast and lunches for a few days.

Jossan has a fever and do not feel well at all, incredible, there has been someone sick almost this whole vacation.

Had a super sandwich in the evening with toasted glutenfree, white bread with chese and salami. Mmmmmmmmmm.